The Merchant: Gaekju 2015 (2015)

It is without a doubt one of the best historical dramas I've ever seen. I definetely recommend it for those who enjoy a highly political drama. It's certainly not for the romance seeking fellow drama addicts.

When it first aired I dropped it because the introduction was really bad but nothing surprising since I usually don't enjoy introductions in historical dramas (or introdutions in general), but I'm SOOOO glad I decided to give it another try even if it was just because I'd recently became a fan of Jang Hyuk but I skipped the introduction part and suddenly, when Bong Sam becomes a fully grown man, the story becomes really interesting and addicting to the point I never got bored once. It's actually hard to let go of this drama T-T

There are lots of interesting characters in this drama, specially Shin Seok Ju (believe it or not, I love him so much! He's an adorable villain!), Gil So Gae (another adorable villain with so much charisma) and of course Cheon Bong Sam (I love, love love him!). These three made confused as to whom I should cheer for LOL.  

The story is about the merchant class and one merchant who will go through all obstacles following his principles and going against anything and anyone to do what he has to do to survive and also what is right.  For fairness (and to survive), he goes against the powerful head merchant, the nobles and the palace if he has to.

Cheon Bom Sam's journey is definetely worth it. The story has a perfect pace, it's intriguing and keeps you curious through all the 41 episodes and I can't stress enough how amazing acting is.

The only con I can think of (and it is a weak one) is that it should've ended a little sooner so that the ending would've been stronger.

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1) The reason I watched this :
because its a HISTORY drama and " I like histories ", and being a drama that involves Merchants, makes it so interesting to watch.. new idea new concept

2) Storyline/Plot:
DISAPPOINTED ; VERY POOR, the weak point of this drama, the story was good in the first FEW EPISODES of the show, but before reaching the middle of the show it took a different unrealistic, repetitive, boring turn, with no characters developing and no real twists... the story development as a whole was very bad

* The cinematography is garbage

*Main Genres:

--->Action and politics : poor ..

--->Romance: not present


Story: 1/10.


3) Acting/Cast:

*Main Leads :
u cant feel it .. even the main actors are not in the mood and unrealistic

Cast: 5/10.
Acting: 2.5/10.


4) The ending: very bad written.

The ending: 1/10.


5) My impression (How did it affect me):
one of forgettable dramas, just passed my time watching it


*Is the drama memorable: NO

My impression: 4/10.

Rewatch :zero

6) Overall:
Overall: 1.5/10

NOT WORTH WATCHING

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An embarrasing piece

It started off on a decent note but hit a major roadblock somewhere shortly after, a big nosedive out of nowhere! Disrespectful atrocious writing, to say the least. You may witness one of the worst written plot devices and tension management here. I was willing to give it a chance in the beginning despite the setback, but my interest plummeted faster than a rock when the male lead got entangled with that deplorable love interest plot. In fact, this applied to all of the four female leads. The momentum sputtered and stalled like a car running on fumes and the leads were stuck in first gear the whole time. The potential for a captivating narrative was there, hanging in the air, but the execution was practically non-existent. I'm fairly certain this is the worst drama Jang Hyuk picked up in his career, hopefully the last.

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